Hawaii State Governing Body Information

2018 Marijuana Packaging Laws Update

While famous for its pakalolo, the Hawaiian term for cannabis, Hawaii only permits medical use of cannabis currently. The Aloha State had kept cannabis illegal throughout the twentieth century, until the Hawaiian governor signed Act 228 in 2000, allowing medical marijuana cardholders to grow their own or have a caretaker grow marijuana for them. The dispensary program was created in 2015 to allow those in need of medical marijuana to receive it as soon as possible. The Act 241 was passed in July 2015 stating that the Hawaii Department of Health will start the Medical Marijuana Dispensary Program and can start creating products as early as the summer of 2016. The first legal dispensary sale was made in August 2017.

In Hawaii, there are two programs that are responsible for medical marijuana patients as well as dispensaries.

There is the Medical Cannabis Registry Program, and it requires patients to be registered before using cannabis for medical purposes. The HI Medical Cannabis Registry Program also allows patients or their guardians to grow marijuana with a physician’s recommendation.

The Medical Cannabis Dispensary Program regulates the sale of marijuana through dispensaries. These regulations include statewide oversight of the laboratories that test the quality of the cannabis and cannabis products. There is also a required onsite inspection and monitoring of licensed dispensaries.

2017 Marijuana Packaging Laws Update

Hawaii House Bill 321 introduced legal medical cannabis to the state in 2015, and the bill contained regulations about the sale of cannabis in the state, including packaging and labeling guidelines. These regulations include packaging that’s opaque and child resistant. Labeling regulations are mostly concerned with potency, ingredients, and doses of cannabinoids in the product. Like some other states, Hawaii restricts the dosage in any one serving, whether that’s individually packaged item (like a pre-rolled cigarette) or just a serving size in a larger package.

“Section 321-C of Hawaii House Bill 321: Advertising and packaging.

(a) The department shall establish standards regarding the advertising and packaging of medical marijuana products; provided that the standards, at a minimum, shall require the use of packaging that:

(1) Is child-resistant and opaque so that the product cannot be seen from outside the packaging;

(2) Is clearly labeled with the phrase “For medical use only”; and

(3) Contains information about the contents and potency of the product.

(b) Any lozenge, capsule, or pill containing medical marijuana or its principal psychoactive constituent tetrahydrocannabinol shall be packaged so that one dose, serving, or single wrapped item contains no more than ten milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol.”

Established by HB 321, the HI Medical Cannabis Program regulates how medical cannabis businesses must package and label their products. For more information on how you should market or sell your cannabis products in Hawaii, see Hawaii’s Medical Cannabis program’s website.